Ore-stream hopper



Mar. 20, 1923.

F. M. MARTIN ORE STREAM HOPPER Original Filed Sept 11, 1920 3 sheets-sheet 1 Fig.1..

ATTORNEYS Mar. 20, 1923.

F. M. MARTIN ORE STREAM HOPPER Original Filed Sept. 11, 1920 5 sheets-sheet 2 Mar. 20, 1923. 1 448,?60

F. M. MARTIN ORE STREAM HOPPER Original Filed .Sept. 11, 1920 3 sheets-sheet 5 INV NTOR wQqm MWRIIEYS Patented Mar. 2d, 1923.

MNHTEB STATES PATENT QFFHQE.

FRED MASON M'ABTIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ORE-STREAM HOPPER.

Original app1ication filed October 28, 1919, Serial No. 333,892. Divided and this application filed Septeniher 11, 1920, Serial No. 409,587. Renewed December 12, 1922.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED MASON MARTIN,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, inthe county of Kings 5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore- Stream Hoppers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a machine for receiving a mass of material which cannot be readily handled such as wet concentrates, ores, slimes, clays and similar plastic material and for converting the mass into a disintegrated stream having a regulated flow per unit of time. This application constitutes a division of my copending application on apparatus and method for sampling ore, Serial No. 287,137, filed April 3, 1919,

and also constitutes a division of application, Serial No.-833,892, filed October 28,

In the parent application there was disclosed a method which included the steps of first forming a constant and uniform flow of material in a compact, solid stream. This compact stream was then acted upon by a disintegrator so as to form an open stream with the particles relatively small and spaced apart. By means of a rotary sampler there was a periodic abstraction of small uniform samples from this open stream which sampleswere assembled in one mass so as to obtain a fair sample of the entire origlnal mass. This applicatlon features the stream handling elements of the original disclosure in distinction from the combination which includes the sampling mechanism and in distinction from the combination which includes the disintegrating mechanism.

The primary object of the invention herein featured is to provide a simple form of apparatus which will receive the dificultly handable material in bulk and which wlll feed the same therefrom in a constant stream of uniform cross section thereby to insure the feeding of equalamounts in succeeding units of time.

Still another object of the invention herein disclosed is to provide a stream forming device of rugged construction to withstand the hard working conditions to which heavy ore handling machines are usually subjected and at the sametime to provide a machine which can be operated economically and independently of the character of material handled.

Various other objects and advantages of the nvention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawlugs and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying my invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel features of construction and combination ofparts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an enlarged .view'of the material receiving hopper element of a, machine constituting a preferred embodiment of my complete invention and with parts of the hopper broken away, to show internal construction Figure 2 is an enlarged View in right end elevation of the device shown in Figure 1 and with parts broken away;

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the hopper looking down upon the device shown in Figures 1 and, 2; and

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4i 1 of Figure 1. i

therefrom and is permitted to fall freely' intoengagement with a disintegrating device18 which acts on the material to break up; the stream discharged from the hopper.

. The broken-up stream is then permitted to fallout-o a sampler or other treating device more particularly defined in the'parent ap-- plication above identified.

It will be noted that the receiving end of the hopper is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed, downwardly and inwardly inclined, deflectors 23 which act to distribute the material discharged into the same and to dispose the same evenly on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial line through the hopper. Each of the deflectors is pivotally connected to the adjacent side of the hopper at its upper edge. The deflectors are each held in adjusted swinging position by extends means of a lifting rod 2& which passes through the adjacent side and is held in set position by nuts 25 as shown in Figure 2. The hopper is provided at its discharge end. with an opening 26 having a width equal to that of the hopper but relatively small in its vertical dimension as shown in Figure 2. A plow 27, triangular-shaped in plan as shownrin Figure 3, is mounted at the dis charge end of the hopper and is positioned above the opening 26. The plow is mounted for vertical adjustment on transverse bars 28 constituting internal bracesfor the hop-. per. Vertically adjustable hanging rods 29 connect the bars 28 with the advance edge and-with" opposite sides of the plow. By

this construction the bottom edge of theplowis set at any desired distance above the conveyor 17 so as to regulate the depth ofthe stream of material delivered through the opening26 to the disintegrator 18.

The belt conveyor 17 includes an endless material-receiving belt 30, the upper run of which fits relativelyclose to the open bottom of the hopper as shown in Figure 4 and constitutes a movable bottom for said hopper. This belt is relatively wide and the hopper so as to minimize any tendency of leakage betweenthe hopper and the conveyor. The belt encircles an endless drlving frame 31, and has its upper run resting on the 'frame and held thereto frictionally but. is otherwise unsecured to the frame. A plurality of longitudinally extending tracks,

in Figure a'shown to be four in number,

extend parallel to the length of the hop per with the two inside tracks 32 positioned below the hopper and the two outside tracks 33 offset laterally to the outside of the hop per. The frame includes a series of trans versel dis osed bars 34 connected at their outer ends by roller chains'35. The frame is designed to engage and slide on the tracks throughroller casters 36. The chains of the frame are passed about end sprocket wheels, one set of which, 37, at the discharging end of the conveyor constitute driving sprockets and are mounted upon and driven from a power shaft v38. The other set of sprockets 39' iscarried by a shaft 40 mounted in take-up bearings 41 by means of 2 which the tension on the conveyor frame is adjusted. The parts are soproportioned' and so spaced from the. tracks that'when the frame is arried from its horizontal path.

into its path around the sprocket wheels, the belt 30 is moved clear of the sprocket wheels thus permitting the use of a belt of unusual width. In operation, and assuming that severa movable elements of the device are operas ively connected to the power'system so as to cause them to operate at the desired relative speed and assuming that load after load beyond opposite lateral sides of strips by means ofthe cutting disks, and the disintegrating wires moving upwardly throughthe mass, usually at relatively highspeed, will tend to break up the strips -before the material is permitted'to fall towards the sampler. Even if wetandsticky the material is-separatedand falls in a stream of separate particle's.

y thus outlined it is possible to obtain a fair sample of the material, even though this material be of -a..plastic=nature and otherwise difiicult to handle. lVith reference to the hopper an advantage is attained over any attempt to feed the irregular mass of material through an opening, the adjacent sides of which are disposed in planesperpendicular to the direction of motion of the material, in-that there is less stress upon the mechanism ofthe conveyor'and less power consumed. I

WVhen the plow outlined isused the supply belt on the conveyor gives the -feedera large capacity atslow speed; Further, with the particular type of conveyor disclosed lateral or side creep of the belt is minimized and belt' tBIlSlOIl is eliminated as the driving or carrying effectv is proportionedto the" weight ofthe lo'adonly and relative move means of a device of the character ment between the belt and its carrying frame is minimized so as to eliminate wear on the underside of the belt.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim 1. In'adevice of-the-class described, the combination ofa hopper provided -with a discharge opening at 'one end, a conveyor constituting the bottom of thehopper, and" adapted to move-the contents of the hopper through said opening and a plow com prising" apair of substantially flat members positioned in intersecting vertical planes. within said hopper, the vertical edgesof each of-said members facing the outgoing contents beingin mutual contact to form a ridge for distributing the ma terial on each side of the medial line of movement of the material past the plow.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hopper provided with a discharge opening at one end, a conveyor constituting the bottom of the hopper, and adapted to move the contents of the hopper through said opening, a' plow comprising a pair of substantially flat members positioned in intersecting vertical planes within said hopper, the vertical edges 01" each of said members facing the outgoing contents being in mutual contact to form a ridge for distributing the material on each side of the medial line of movement of the material past the plow and a single means for adjusting the position of the said mem bers vertically to regulate the depth of the material discharged through the opening.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hopper provided with a discharge opening at one end, a conveyor constituting the bottom 01 the hopper, and adapted to move the contents of the hopper through said opening, a plow mounted in said hopper adjacent the discharge end of the conveyor and means in advance of the plow for distributing the material on each side of the medial line of movement of the material past the plow.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receptacle having a discharge opening at one end, a belt conveyorconstituting the bottom of the receptacle and adapted to feed the contents or" the receptacle through said opening, a pair of downwardly and inwardly inclined deflectors positioned in said receptacle at the receiving end of the belt conveyor to distribute the material on opposite sides of the lon gitudinal medial line of the conveyor.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receptacle having adischarge opening at one end, a belt conveyor constituting the bottom of the receptacle and adapted to feed the contents of the receptacle through said opening, a pair of deflectors before it is'passed by the conveyor] through the opening.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receptacle having a discharge opening at one end, a belt conveyor constituting the bottom of the receptacle and adapted to feed the contents of the receptacle through said opening, a pair of downwardly and inwardly inclined deflectors positioned in said receptacle at the receiving end of the belt conveyor to distribute the material on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial line of the conveyor, means within the receptacle in rear of the deflectors and in, advance of the opening to level the material centered by the deflectors before it is passed by the conveyor through the opening, means for varying the angle of inclination of the deflectors and means for varying the position of the plow relative to the deflectors thereby to vary the character of the stream of material discharged from the hopper.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 3rd day of Sept, 1920, A. D.

FRED MASON MARTIN. 

